bar where it had stopped in the scene with the
Wicked Fay. An impassioned duet follows, and the work closes with the
animated waltz-chorus which opened the first scene.

DVORAK.

Anton Dvorak, the Bohemian composer who has risen so suddenly into
prominence, was born at Muelhausen, near Prague, Sept. 8, 1841. His father
combined the business of tavern-keeper and butcher, and young Dvorak
assisted him in waiting upon customers, as well as in the slaughtering
business. As the laws of Bohemia stipulate that music shall be a part of
common-school education, Dvorak learned the rudiments in the village
school, and also received violin instruction. At the age of thirteen he
went to work for an uncle, who resided in the village where the
schoolmaster was a proficient musician. The latter, recognizing his
ability, gave him lessons on the organ, and allowed him to copy music.
Piano lessons followed, and he had soon grounded himself quite thoroughly
in counterpoint. At the age of sixteen he was admitted to the
organ-school of Prague, of which Joseph Pitsch was the principal. Pitsch
died soon after, and was succeeded by Kreyci, who made Dvorak acquainted
with the music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. The first
orchestral work he heard was Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony," during its
rehearsal under Spohr's direction. In 1860, being then in his nineteenth
year, he obtained an engagement, with the meagre salary of one hundred
and twenty-five dollars a year, as violinist in a band that played at
cafes and dances. Two years later he secured a position in the Bohemian
Opera House at Prague, then under the direction of Mayer, where he
remained until 1871, in which year he left the theatre and devoted
himself to teaching, with the prospect of earning two hundred and fifty
dollars a year. These were hard days for the young musician; but while he
was there struggling for a bare subsistence, he continued writing
compositions, though he had no prospect of selling them or of having them
played. About this time he wrote his "Patriotic Hymn" and the opera
"Koenig und Koehler." The latter was rejected after an orchestral trial;
but he continued his work, undaunted by failure. Shortly after this he
received the appointment of organist at the Adelbert Church, Prague, and
fortune began to smile upon him. His Symphony in F was laid before the
Minister of Instruction in Vienna, and upon the recommendation of